Staff sergeant killed in WWII battle to be buried in Springfield

A man killed in World War II will be laid to rest near his home of Springfield on Saturday.

The public is welcome to attend the 10 a.m. Saturday graveside service with military honors for U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael Aiello at Camp Butler National Cemetery, according to the Springfield Journal-Register.

Aiello went missing during battle at Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The military operation was portrayed in the 1977 movie “A Bridge Too Far.”

The Army gave a presumptive finding of death for Aiello about a year after the 1944 battle. Remains were identified as his about eight years ago; his body was returned to Illinois this week.

His remains had been buried at Ardennes American Cemetery. On May 31, 2016, the remains were disinterred from the cemetery and sent to the DPAA Laboratory for identification.

Aiello's name was recorded on the Walls of the Missing at an American Battle Monuments Commission site with others from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for, according to a news release from DPAA.